let us know. we'll pass it on. that's your weekend assignment. we're going to see you again monday. "weekends with alex witt" starts now. the outgoing irs commissioner in the hot seat before congress. this morning new reaction. two commuter trains going opposite directions just outside of new york collide at rush hour. in office politics, i talk to richard engel about what was going through his mind when he was kidnapped in syria. powerball mania reaching a fever pitch. the big clamor for the $600 million prize. have you got your tickets yet? good morning, everyone. welcome to weekends with alex witt. let's get to what's happening. first in front page politics, a new fallout just a day after the irs commissioner faced fierce questioning from a house panel. steve miller was force the to resign his post as acting director this week. on friday he faced republicans and democrats who demanded answers about why the irs

targeted tea party groups seeking tax exempt status. >> as acting commissioner, i want to apologize on behalf of the internal revenue service for the mistakes that we made and the poor service we provided. i think that what happened here was that foolish mistakes were made by people trying to be more efficient in their workload. the listing, as described in the report, while intolerable, was a mistake and not an act of partisanship. good morning. thanks for joining me. bombshells. did you hear any at this hearing? and i'm also curious about the impact on president obama. when they say it was a mistake, steve miller say it was a mistake and not an act of partisanship, are people buying it? >> not necessarily. while the watchdog who testified alongside him made it clear he didn't think there was any bit of partisanship in all this and that it was perhaps just a mistake in that they focused too

closely on these groups, we did learn during this hearing that the treasury watchdog who had prepared the report began briefing members of the treasury department last june, basically. so you had the deputy secretary of the treasury department, the general counsel there, aware that this investigation was going on. does it mean the watchdog had given him all the information or that they needed to know every detail? what it does suggest is that there were senior people in the obama administration, at least over at the treasury department, who were aware of this just a few months before the erection, and that brings pause to republicans and democrats who say, look, is there a possibility now that people at the irs knew about this and were trying to keep it under the rug through november? >> well, okay. let's listen to more of the hearing with you. here, in fact, republican congressman kevin brady questioning steve miller. here it is. >> who in the irs is responsible for target can conservative organizations? is the question remains, who is

responsible for targeting the conservative organizations? who is responsible for targeting these individuals? >> i don't have names for you, mr. brady, and i'm willing to try to find that out. >> you think you might have had some names coming into that hearing, wouldn't you? as the hearing drew to a close, republican congressman dave kamp said the investigation had, quote, just begun. i want to get perspective from you, amy, how big is this irs controversy right now and how big might it get? >> one thing is clear, alex, it doesn't appear to be going away. it has legs, whereas these other controversies like benghazi might have been fading away in the background, this one has come to the forefront. it's a problem for the white house, and i think you know that. that's why you saw the president this week take steps to stop the bleeding and cut it off. he assigned danny wuerffel to report to secretary jack lou and see where this is going.

you're seeing the white house take action on this. i think they're a little scared of what's happening. >> nbc news received a letter from the lobbying arm of the heritage foundation, addressed to speaker john boehner and house majority leader eric cantor. it urges republicans not to bring forth any new legislation, rather just focus on the controversies. if they take that advice, do the republicans risk overplaying their hand? >> that's why you've seen republican leadership tell the rank and file, look, we understand there are a few different issues we need to be looking into. let's not jump to conclusions. let's not run out there and say and do things that would smack of partisanship in a way that might turn off voters that might be generally concerned about this and interested in supporting us come 2014. the biggest comparison is what happened during the lewinsky scandal, the republicans focused too much on it. things were a little different there, and it was only one situation. here you have several. and the fact that you have

bipartisan concern about this also suggests that, if republicans try to get ahead of it, democrats are just going to react very angrily and say you're now just trying to turn this into a partisan situation. there are two more hearings this week, one of them in the senate, one of them in the house. the other thing to keep in mind to talk to lawmakers this week, we can do more than one thing at once. we can legislate. we can work on immigration. we can work on a budget deal while also doing our constitutional obligation to oversee what's going on in the executive branch. it looks like there's an eagerness to do both. >> congress' approval, their ratings in the basement. they have the nickname do nothing. one-third of republican controlled committees in the house are spending their time investigating some facet of the obama administration. what is the potential risk? is there reward for republicans here? >> there is a little bit of reward for them, alex. i think what they want to do is throw the president off his game. he has a lot to do in the second term. he hasn't been able to do it. the boston bombings kind of took him off message.

now he has this to deal with. they have to be kind of high fiving in a way because he isn't really able to focus on what he's trying to do. he was out there yesterday trying to push the budget. he's trying to make a turn to shift the dialogue, but that's been really difficult for him lately. >> is amie parnes, ed o'keefe, thank you so much. a commuter train accident outside of new york city at the peak of rush hour. two metro north commuter trains traveling to and from new york crashed in the bridgeport area. as many as 60 people injured and at least 5 of them critically. let's go to in tbs's michelle franzen who has the latest from bridgeport. talk about travel mess, concerns for people's health and safety. what's the latest? >> reporter: exactly, alex. fortunately, no one was killed in this derailment. of course you mentioned dozens injured and some of them critically, so we'll keep a watch on their progression, and we'll hear more from a press

conference today. just exactly how that derailment occurred is how investigators will be focusing on today. you can see some of the wreckage from last night, that derailment that occurred at the peak of the friday night commute, this busy northeast corridor that services people between boston and new york. dozens of people were rescued from the wreckage, and as you mentioned, what we do know from investigators is that they think that the eastbound train that was traveling somehow derailed off the tracks and collided with a westbound train. we can show you a little bit what the tracks look like in this area that were under construction at this time, and that's certainly something that investigators will be looking at. those moments those commuters were trying to scramble and get out of the train, some of them described the moments that followed as chaotic.

>> there was this loud bang and crash, and everyone was jolted forward, people fell out of their seats, and things went dark, and there was a loud screeching. >> reporter: the governor held a press conference last night. he mentioned that the area here where that derailment occurred, the tracks had been under repair and had been work going on around that, which made it a very narrow passage. that's one of the things that investigators, including the ntsb team will be looking at to find the exact cause. in the meantime, alex, as you mentioned, also, a very big mess for commuters. the government preparing commuters this will not be taken care of, likely for monday's commute. they've got this wreckage that will stay in place until investigators are done and then repair work that will be needed for the railroad tracks. amtrak has already suspended service between new york and new haven and also limited service between boston and new york. we'll have to wait and hear more

this morning from a press conference to see what time these tracks may open again for commuters. alex? >> monday morning will come fast and furiously. thank you so much, michelle franzen. 35 million americans are watching the skies for violent weather this weekend. a powerful system moving east. it's cutting the eastern third of the country from north to south. will it hit alabama on friday? a possible tornado knocked down trees and damaged the roof of the store. it's the same storm system that slammed into north texas on tuesday killing six people. tornado victims are being allowed to return to their property and salvage what they can. nbc news' dylan dreier is here with more on the weather. >> the storm prediction center has put out an outlook this could be the start of a severe weather outbreak. in red from nebraska right through kansas and down into oklahoma, that's the area where we have to watch out for the possibility of isolated tornadoes, especially later on this evening.

as those storms fire up late this morning and into this afternoon, we'll have to keep an eye out for large hail and ge a damaging winds. the rest of the area from north dakota into central texas, that's where we could end up with moderate hail and damaging winds with strong storms expected out that way. why is this happening? this is a pretty strong cold front. 56 in denver. 62 in kansas city. 70s currently in texas. and it's that dividing line between the warm, very, very humid air, and the cooler drier air that is going to fire off some of those storms as we go through the day. it doesn't look like much right now, in the area right down from nebraska into oklahoma, there are no storms just yet. north of that, we're seeing run of the mill thunderstorms up across south dakota. you can see heavy pockets of rain moving eastward, and those could be storms that could create strong gusty winds and moderate sized hail. also down into alabama and

georgia, that's where we're seeing strong storms too. there is the threat of thunderstorm activity across a good part of the country. the biggest threat will be from nebraska through kansas right down into oklahoma. it is going to be very hot and very humid. but the chance of isolated tornadoes is certainly possible as we go into this evening. something will be tracking for sure. alex? >> thank you for doing that for us. as powerball mania is sweeping across the nation ahead of tonight's drawing, the jackpot itself is about to set a record, already at a p wwhoppin $600 million, the jackpot could reach $1 billion if nobody draws the winning numbers. nbc's brian mooar is in washington. are you kidding me? $1 billion in no one wins tonight? that's amazing. >> reporter: i've got news for you, alex, someone's winning tonight. next week we're talking from a beach. look, this is msnbc. let's put it in political terms. your chances of seeing john boehner and nancy pelosi dance the macarena at the kennedy

center are probably a lot better than winning this lottery. your chances of winning the white house, only a scant 1 in 10 million. this is 1 in 175 million. somebody is going to win at some point. we're talking about what people would do with this money. we talked to everybody from the firefighter who said, yeah, i'd still be saving lives but i'd do it with a different attitude. we talked to one guy who said he'd give it all away to charity. he'd help kids get into college and help his churches out. but ultimately, people come to this counter, and they plunk down $2, and they've got that dream until tonight, and then tomorrow they're $2 poorer. there's always that chance that somebody out there is going to get that lightning strike, but actually the truth is it's like being hit by lightning twice. those are better odds. alex? >> i've got to tell you, i would pay good money to see john boehner and nancy pelosi dance the macarena. i'd invest in that before

powerball. that's a good one. all right, brian. we'll see what happens with your help. thank you so much. so with $600 million right now up for grabs, what would you do if you win? you can all talk to me on twitter. my handle is @alexwitt, and i'll get to reading your tweets throughout the day on the show. the second leg of horse racing's triple crown takes over charm city this weekend, as the 138th preakness races its way into baltimore. kentucky derby winner drew pole position. a win would place the tho bred on track to become the first triple l crown winner since 1978. coverage begins at 2:00 p.m. on the nbc sports network. jodi arias' turn to take the stand. what they needs to say to save herself from the death penalty. so you can sit back, relax and enjoy.

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new questions this morning after outgoing irs commissioner steve miller faced a grilling by congress. miller said it was a misguided effort to deal with a flood of applications for tax-exempt status. let's go to the white house and nbc's kristen we will kerr. good morning to you. what is the reaction from the white house, if any, to this grilling on capitol hill? >> reporter: it's interesting the white house isn't reacting yet to the testimony we heard on friday. sort of part of their strategy to shift controversy away from it. the controversy in part has staying power. friday will likely be the first

in a series of hearings and investigations. as you pointed out, outgoing irs commissioner steven miller really got a grilling. it was a contentious hearing, and there was bipartisan outrage at times, alex, something we don't usually see. miller did apologize for not telling earlier about the fact that the irs had been targeting tea party and other conservative groups that applied for tax exempt status. he also said the irs planned to publish this in may by planting an answer at a q&a at a legal conference that was held. he said, look, this was not political. this was a foolish mistake. alex, there were a number of heated exchanges. take a listen to one of them. >> do you not think that congress has the right to know all the information that you knew? >> so, look -- >> did this committee -- >> congress was going to find out -- >> mr. miller, does this committee have the right to know

the information that you knew? yes or no? >> this committee was always going to get that information. >> yes or no, that's an easy one. you testified before this committee, mr. miller, and did not -- >> we were not going to -- >> please, mr. miller. >> reporter: alex, there were a lot of questions about what the administration knew and when he knew it. the commissioner said he made administration officials aware that he was launching an investigation last year but did not provide specifics. jack lou said he became aware of the specifics of the investigation last week, and white house officials and the president said that is also when they became aware of the specifics in this investigation. political analysts say that scandal coupled with, of course, the ongoing questions about the white house's handling of the benghazi incident and then, of course, also this week we learned the department of justice was seizing e-mails from

journalists. all of that, according to political analysts, could threaten the president's second term agenda because, of course, he doesn't have a whole lot of time to get his second term agenda accomplished, which, of course, includes immigration reform and deficit reduction. alex? >> kristen we will kerr from the white house, thank you so much. to catch a thief. the vanishing act for more than $1 million in jewelry at the world's most famous film festival. tter. so now i can help make this a great block party. ♪ [ male announcer ] advair is clinically proven to help significantly improve lung function. unlike most copd medications, advair contains both an anti-inflammatory and a long-acting bronchodilator working together to help improve your lung function all day. advair won't replace fast-acting inhalers for sudden symptoms and should not be used more than twice a day. people with copd taking advair may have a higher chance of pneumonia. advair may increase your risk of osteoporosis

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i'm on expert on softball. and tea parties. i'll have more awkward conversations

than i'm equipped for, because i'm raising two girls on my own. i'll worry about the economy more than a few times before they're grown. but it's for them, so i've found a way. who matters most to you says the most about you. at massmutual we're owned by our policyowners, and they matter most to us. ready to plan for your future? we'll help you get there. money headlines. wining and dining and excess baggage. let's start with the consumer sentiment report. are we becoming more confident? >> we certainly are. the best consumer sentiment in six years. the biggest factors in that psyche are the value of your

home, do you have a job, and how does it pay? is that's where underlying spending power comes in, which is what they're trying to measure. all of that looks like it's improving. what's different now is people do think it's sustainable. that's why you're seeing record highs in the stock market because it looks like this recovery now has some legs. >> and maybe people are celebrating because it seems like the restaurant industry is doing a little better. >> it is a sign. in fact, the restaurant industry has hit all time highs, particularly 18 to 29-year-olds with the headline fed up of being frugal. part of that driven by social media. i'm sure you've seen the phenomen phenomenon. they take pictures of food, post it on instagram and facebook, but generally the behavior driving this is a sign of economic recovery. in 2008, you may have had a coupon for buy one, get one pizza from a franchise. you brought it home and had budweiser beer and soda. now people are going out and getting higher caliber food,

caring what they put in their bodies and paying a premium. whole wheat pizza with goat cheese and organic spinach and having some wine with it. very different tab, but it's enough to turn these numbers around. >> i thought my daughter was just the strange one who takes pictures of her food and texts it to her friends. what's wrong with you? >> no. >> what about the record year for baggage fees? is this the new norm? >> it is the new norm? what's interesting is we seem to be okay with . when you look at consumer satisfaction with airlines, it's the highest it's been since 2006. that's before fees kicked in in 2008. it's absolutely the new norm. it's a tough as you know, alex, industry. almost all of the profits come from baggage fees and change fees. consumers are okay with it. to put it in perspective, we hear the billions number. $7.50 per passenger. some of us don't check bags. some of us don't make changes. that's the average. reportedly, the industry would like to get that number up to $20. so you can see they're really gunning for the add-ons because

we are not okay when the base ticket price goes up. when you see a flight, and it says $400, you think no way. if it says $300, but they sell you $100 in other things, we seem to be okay with that. they almost have no choice. >> it's interesting, though. i was doing a comparison. you mentioned $400, american airlines, and you put up spirit, and you know exactly what i'm talking about. it looks like $300, but you add in everything. it's pretty close. >> it gets very close, very fast. it's a different way to structure. if you are the airlines and your profit margin is only 3.7%, you've got to do something. >> regina lewis, thanks. good to see you. appreciate it. the story of an accused spy caught in russia with a bad wig and cheap sunglasses. step! [ mom ] my little girl...she loves to help out on big jobs. good thing there's bounty select-a-size. it's the smaller powerful sheet that acts like a big sheet. look! one select-a-size sheet of bounty is 50% more absorbent than a full size sheet of the leading ordinary brand.

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what uncle sam needs now are more good teachers. are you up for it? you can help kids graduate. the more you know. welcome back. south korea's defense ministry says north korea fired three short range missiles from the east coast.

whether these launches were part of a training exercise or a test is not known at this time. six years after madeleine mccann disappeared in portugal, britain's scotland yard has identified a new list of persons of interest and has urged portugal to reopen the case. federal prosecutors in the boston bombings case say they need more time to work on the indictment of dzhokhar tsarnaev and will not meet the 30-day taed line as stipulated by law. they will request an extension. police in altamonte are investigating a robbery of olympic star dee dee trotter. olympic rings were among the stolen items. and two winning tickets sold in last night's $190 million mega millions drawing in new jersey and virginia. now you've got the powerball up to $600 million. it's the second largest jackpot

in u.s. history. the final phase of the jodi arias trial resumes monday, and jodi arias is expected to take the stand. in the meantime, jurors have all weekend to mull over gripping testimony from members of the victim's family. >> i was in two motorcycle crashes and walked away unharmed. he wrecked several cars, and nothing happened to him. he rolled a snowmobile, and, again, not a scratch. he was unbreakable. who on earth would want to do this to him? for what reasons? he wanted to move forward in life, to better himself and only to help others. >> unbreakable until he met jodi. the same jury determined this week that arias killed alexander in an especially cruel manner, which could mean the death penalty. joining me now, legal analyst lisa green and former criminal prosecutor and defense attorney jay fahey.

good morning to you. this continues. this is a particularly interesting phase of things. putting arias on the stand, lisa, good move? >> she's taken the stand before in this case, before these jurors, they didn't buy her story. i think it all boils down to will they find her credible should she beg for mercy? they may have also heard her say publicly she wants to be put to death. that's a real problem for her lawyers. >> jay, strategy for the defense here. do they try to zero in on just a few jurors they think might be sympathetic? is that what keeps her out of the death penalty? >> they're going to try to humanize her as much as they can. all they need is one or two jurors. they're going to do everything they can. i want to talk about ut 'ing her on the stand. she's going to testify, but she's going to be given the opportunity to talk to the jury from the lectern. she could take the stand, but that's unlikely. >> is talk and say what? >> she could say something like this. yes, i know i killed him. yes, i was suffering from a mental illness. i'm very sorry.

i realize how much pain i caused. something like that where she's not getting the jury angry or saying things that are contradictory to the way the jury thinks. she's already admitted murder. it's just a question, i'm sorry this happened. i'm sorry my boyfriend, my fiance's life is ruined. there's a way a clever lawyer can tailor a statement that would work. >> is there's mitigating factors. there's a list. she's going to want to hit the mitigating factors that are pretty relevant. i'm pretty young. i've never been in trouble before. >> this bizarre interview she gives immediately after being convicted, she says, i want death. that's where i get my freedom, the sooner the better. jurors will not have seen that allegedly? >> they weren't sequestered. they're not supposed to rely on outside evidence or news like that, but there's no real way of knowing if they've heard it or not. >> what about what they're hearing for the first time, which is words from the victim's family? that was pretty powerful. let's take a listen a little bit

more what was said from the brother and sister of travis alexander. >> how much did he suffer? how much did he scream? what was he saying? what was the last thing he saw before his eyes closed? what was his final thought in his head? >> we lost our father on travis' 20th birthday and our mother shortly after. and through this trying time in our lives, travis was the one that got us through the pain and the hardship because he was our strength. >> i'll tell you, i don't want to be a defense attorney after hearing that. are there mitigating factors that you think could sway, lisa, this jury towards leniency when you hear that and they've already convicted her of killing him? >> they've already convicted her of killing him, and remember they've been vetted as a jury to

be jurors who are willing to mete out the death penalty. that said, as jay points out, you need one juror to waver. even though technically they find no mitigating factors, they're required to impose the death penalty. but in the jury room, there's no knowing when the vote comes. >> the power of putting somebody on death row, it's a very daunting task, certainly. your experience and what you've witnessed, what is the likelihood you think she'll get the death penalty? >> i think she will not get the death penalty. i think it's very hard for jurors to say that someone deserves death. given this is her first offense. she is relatively young. every murder is bad. every premeditated murder is bad. so i think it's very hard -- this isn't a terrorist. there are a lot of things that go in her favor in spite of the horrific way she did this murder and all the lies she said. but i think it's very hard for a jury to do that. >> if not death penalty, is it

only life without parole, or could she actually be paroled down the road? >> there is a path to life with parole for her, but it's going to require additional steps. remember, if this jury deadlocks on the death penalty, another jury could be impaneled to start this phase again. if other she's convicted and given the death penalty, likely she would spend years and years in prison pursuing appeal. we're not as close to the end as we might think. >> that's good. that means you guys will be back. looking forward to that. another high profile case playing out in court. o.j. simpson spent the last five days trying to convince a judge to give him a retrial. simpson accuses his former attorney yale gallanter of mishandling his case. gallanter took the stand and refused to back down. >> the whole idea that somebody thought i was ineffective or thought i didn't have mr. simpson's best interests at heart is insulting and absurd. >> i certainly conveyed to him that we didn't know what a jury

was going to do, that there were a lot of people out there that didn't like him, that he really, really ought to consider the offer. >> simpson says that gallanter gave him bad legal advice the night before he stormed a hotel room to collect his memorabilia. the judge will issue a decision in writing but it's not been said what will happen. simpson has served five years of his 9 to 33-year sentence. president obama is turning his eyes away from the irs controversy to the economy this morning. in his weekly address, the president talks about his trip friday to baltimore, where he met with factory workers, young children in a pre-k program, and low income families getting help from a community program. >> is that's why i like getting out of the washington ecochamber whenever i can because too often our politics rpt focused on the same things you are, working hard, superioring your family, and supporting your community. making sure your kids have every chance in life. >> the president added he plans to visit more cities in the coming weeks with a focus on strengthening the middle class. while lawmakers on capitol

hill focus on the irs and benghazi attack investigations, just over half of americans are paying attention to the probes. more than half of those americans in a new gallup poll say they are following the irs and benghazi investigations very or somewhat closely. 46% say they're not following the stories too closely or not at all. along political lines, about two-thirds of republicans and 40% to 45% of democrats say they're following the story very or somewhat closely. in this week's office politics, i talk to nbc's chief foreign correspondent richard engel. most of you are probably aware richard and his crew were kidnapped in december while covering the war in syria. i asked richard about his kidnappers and what he was thinking during that harrowing time. i began by asking him what would normally be a very simple question for which he has a complicated answer. >> people ask me all the time, where do you live? i feel like i'm trying to be evasive. i don't really -- i have a little footprint in new york.

i spent some time in new york. and i have an apartment in istanbul. and the reality is i'm not in neither one of those places most of the time. but i'm trying to spend more time in istanbul these days as a base and then using that to jump off to different places. but i have family in new york. i'm from new york. i was born in new york city. >> are you from new york? i didn't know. >> i'm from new york city. i was born on manhattan island. when i come back here, i come back to the building, look around, talk to you, and then i also go see family. so it's a good way to come in and check out what's going on on this side of the pond and then go back overseas and usually we'll go to istanbul and then jump off from there to wherever. >> i imagine, given what you do, does your family try to grab time with you when they're here -- when you're here? is think about that. >> of course. and i'm very close to my parents. i speak to my mother probably every single day. i always have. >> i bet you do. she worries about you. >> is she does worry about me. but this was even before twitter

and skype and facebook and things like that. so just regular phone calls. i speak to her probably every single day, my father as well. so when i'm here, i go and see them. >> i'm glad they get some time with you. and i know part of the reason they're going to want to always connect with you, you had your kid p kidnapping in syria. >> they didn't appreciate that, not at all. >> none of us did. >> i'm not going to say it was just frightening, that's the obvious answer. of course it was frightening. it was frightening. but what was more disturbing intellectually was that i thought to myself, all right, this is it. my life is going to be over, and it's going to be ended by these people for a conflict i'm not a part of, and this is going to be it. i'm going to die in this dirty little room or outside against some sort of wall, and that's going to be it. i have other things that i want to do, and these guys are going to be the ones who get to terminate this one. this person in a ski mask playing cat and mouse with us

for the last five days is going to be the one who gets to pull that little trigger and decide to end my slice of time on this planet. so it was frustrating. it wasn't so much -- obviously, there's fear, but it wasn't just the, oh, no, i'm going to die. it was this is it? this is how it ends? this is the guy who's going to do it? >> you were angry? >> of course. >> i read about the shabia, and i'll tell you when i first started reading the article, i had to stop when it talked about the barbaric way in which they will kill people. >> this is the worst group. >> you see this. how do you not lose your faith in humanity? >> who told you i had any faith in humanity? >> got to have some. going back, come on. >> believe me, i just go back to get that faith. i have a very confuseded view of humanity, frankly.

i sometimes dethsee this sort o dualism in mankind or humankind. we are capable of such incredible things and such beauty and such kindness, and we can create symphonies and works of art in stone, and then do horrible atrocities to people and gang rape and torture and abuse and enjoy it. and enjoy it. these guys were enjoying it. they like the power. they like the control that they had over us. and then they went home. they had families with them. i heard kids in the room downstairs. so they were not monsters. they were normal people that this war was bringing out a side of their humanity, very dark side of their humanity, that i think is in all of us.

so do i have faith in human nature? i'm very skeptical of human nature. i think we have the capacity for very great and also very, very dark things. >> more of our conversation today at 12:00 noon when richard and i discuss in detail the situation in syria and what world leaders are telling him about u.s. foreign policy. gunfire, chaos, and a brazen jewel heist. it seems like something right out of the movies is playing out at the kan film festival. is car with smelly trash, left it under the hot desert sun, attached a febreze car vent clip, and let in real people. it smells good. like clean laundry. like driving through beautiful tropical... palm trees with like fruit hanging. i wish my car smelled like this. [ both laugh ] i could sit in this all day. [ laughs ] proof. febreze car vent clips eliminate even the toughest odors. another way febreze helps you breathe happy.

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with this. i'll tell you, what a story. let's first get the details on this jewelry heist. when did it start? how did authorities say it happened? >> reporter: well, alex, as far as we know, the jewels belonged to the swiss jeweler shopa. they are an official sponsor of the cannes film festival, and they provided some of the amazing stones you saw hanging around the "a" listers on opening night. as we understand it, an american employee of the company was staying in a novotel on the outskirts of cannes, and in her hotel room safe, she had jewelry stored there. she came home late at 3:00 in the morning from a party, found her safe had been removed, ripped off the wall, removed, and the jewelry was missing. police say there was no forced entry to her hotel many rroom. therefore, the thief must have had a key card to get into the room. they're currently looking through cctv footage to see if

they can spot the suspect. >> do we know how much the jewels were worth? >> reporter: initially, the police report suggested they were worth well over $1 million. however, chopard, the jeweler, has down played that saying they were more in the region of $350,000, $400,000. the jewels you would have seen around the necks of the stars on opening night were worth millions more than that. and chopard insists the jewels that have gone missing were not destined for the "a" listers. >> can i ask you something else as we wait for the investigation to continues? academy award winning actor christopher waltz had to be rushed off stage after hearing gunshots? what do you know about this? >> reporter: usually the drama is on the screen at cannes, not offscreen. this year it's being offscreen. he was being interviewed live

across from where the festival is taking place. during the broadcast a man burst onto the set and fired shots into the air. he was immediately arrested, and everyone rushed offset. police have revealed the man was a 42-year-old homeless man, that the gun he was firing was actually a starting pistol, and a grenade he was allegedly carrying was a fake. no one was injured. >> but frightened, that's for sure. nbc's annabelle roberts, thank you so much. the arrest of that wig toting spy in russia sounds like a john le carre novel. was he really a spy? para mis blancos solo uso el detergente

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call him the man with the golden wig. ryan fogle was arrested by russian authorities this week accused of being a cia spy and trying to recruit a russian

terrorism agent. joining me is a former spy, peter ernest. he's now the executive director of the international spy museum in washington, which sounds like a very interesting job. welcome to you, peter. thank you for being here. >> thank you for asking me. let's talk about what's going on. the russians laid out fogle's alleged spy kit. it didn't look that impressive. cheap looking which is. a road map. an old cell phone. come on is that all it takes? >> i would say don't be too deceived by the paraphernalia that was laid out. moscow is a tough place to operate. we learned how to do it in cold war. we reverted to a lot of basic trade craft. hi-tech stuff can be broken into. it may look like keystone cops but can be very useful in the kind of situations of handling an agent in moscow.

>> all right. we learned that mr. fogle was released to the u.s. embassy. it happened pretty quickly. does that surprise you in >> no, it didn't. as you recall, when we rounded up the ten russian illegals in 2010 -- >> remember that? >> you'll recall what we did, first of all, we publicized it much as they are doing. we publicized their names, jobs and families. then we traded them back to the russians for four russians who allegedly had spied for us. it's like the agricultural department's catch and release program i think. >> kind of. >> let's talk about back in the day, when you were actually a spy, if this had happened and the soviets had caught him what would have happened to him? >> well, you know, much depended on the situation and what was going on overall. i mean these were the two superpowers. it was the period of the cold war. often these things happen for a reason. this was clearly orchestrated.

they were ready to film it, ready to put it on tv. very shortly after it occurred. now what was it for? was it in retaliation for the arrest of the illegals? we can't be sure. i think the thing to keep in mind when you deal with states like the united states and russia, their relationship goes on. so when something like this happens, it can be treated like a bump in the road and not distract them from other thing that are going on like trying to negotiate for cooperation in syria, or it can be made into a major incident. very much depends on the intent of the state carrying it out. in this case russia. >> but, the letter that fogle was carrying allegedly it offered his russian contact a million dollars a year. put that in perspective. is that a normal -- i mean can you believe that would have been legitimate? >> well, yes, i can believe it could be legitimate. however, we have no feel at all

for the back ground of this case. i frankly think this may be a case we used to call a dangle operation. somebody was placed in the way of say our intelligence folks and it's much like what we would call a sting operation in our country. and perhaps they bit. we just don't know because none of the details have been released. >> very quickly, peter, does this kind of thing happen all the time? is there spying 24/7? >> the cold war ended the spying goes on. >> okay. thank you very much. peter ernest good to talk with you. >> good be with you. >> that's a wrap of this "weekends with alex witt." we'll come back on at noon. straight ahead, we got more smart political talk on "up with steve kornacki." then at 10:00 eastern melissa harris-perry. keep it on msnbc.

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